Martinez v. City of Schenectady

In Martinez v. City of Schenectady, 97 NY2d 78 (2001) pursuant to a search warrant, defendants - Schenectady police officers - entered the residence of plaintiff Melody Martinez, and seized four ounces of cocaine from a dresser drawer in her bedroom and arrested her. The Court of Appeals held that "recognition of a constitutional tort claim here is neither necessary to effectuate the purposes of the State constitutional protections plaintiff invokes, nor appropriate to ensure full realization of her rights. Without question, the cost to society of exclusion of evidence and consequent reversal of plaintiffs conviction notwithstanding proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt will serve the public interest of promoting greater care in seeking search warrants. The deterrence objective can be satisfied here by exclusion of the constitutionally challenged evidence." The Court concluded that plaintiff failed to assert a cognizable constitutional tort claim.